Allen Iverson Is NBA’s Terrell Owens

On Wednesday, former NBA stud Allen Iverson he announced he will be competing in tournament called the “Las Vegas Superstar Challenge” featuring four teams of NBA players on November 12th and 13th. On Tuesday, former NFL stud Terrell Owens held a private workout to prove he is 100% healthy and can still contribute to an NFL team.

Owens is coming off of a season where he accumulated 72 catches in 14 games while proving at 37 he still had something left. Iverson is coming off of a strange year abroad playing basketball in Turkey where he wasn’t very productive, looking very much like a 36 year old who had taken his share of physical beatings during a 14 year pro career.
Iverson told Yahoo Sports this week that he wants to get back into the NBA no matter who he plays for. And enlisting in the tournament is a fair way to get a good look at what he has left. The tournament will be his attempt at getting back into the NBA, the way Owens did with his workout hoping to latch on with an NFL team. “I think this is a great opportunity to do what I love,” said Iverson Wednesday during a press conference about the tournament. Iverson’s last season in the NBA, 2009-2010, was a strange one for one of the best scorers in NBA history. After being shuffled between Denver and Detroit the previous year, he latched on with Memphis as a reserve. He was eventually released after just three games and abruptly retired- then re-signed with the Sixers, starting 24 games while averaging 13.9 ppg in 31.9 mpg.

With no interest from an NBA team prior to the beginning of the 2010-11 season, he (unknowingly at the time) became somewhat of a trendsetter by playing overseas, though it wasn’t successful. In his defense, A.I. was going through a rough divorce while dealing with the illness of his young daughter.

At the same time, he was getting hammered by the press, most notably by notorious NBA loudmouth Steve A. Smith who basically accused Iverson through the press of being an alcoholic and addicted to gambling.

PHEW- how could anyone play at an optimal level and not be distracted with all that going on? Sure, Iverson’s attitude is notorious and he is perceived as being a selfish, “me first” player, but it would be difficult for anyone to produce under those circumstances. But as Iverson said, that comes with the territory.

“There are going to be people out there that say things,” Iverson said. “But it’s the same thing I teach my kids: ‘If it’s not true, why do you worry about it?’ It bothers me at times because I do have a heart, and my kids do have to hear some of those things. But that’s the only time it bothers me. I’m used to people saying a bunch of things about me that are not true.”

I for one, hope A.I. has something left in the tank and can perform well at the upcoming NBA tournament. He is truly one of the most exciting players in NBA history. No one wants to see him limp out of the league trying to stay relevant long enough to win a title. But if he is still capable of producing, it would be fun to watch. Just like with T.O.